’Democracy defamed’

With the cash-for-vote scam resurfacing in the wake of leaked US diplomatic cables, a united opposition demanded the resignation of the UPA-II government in Parliament on Thursday

'Democracy defamed'

With the cash-for-vote scam resurfacing in the wake of leaked US diplomatic cables, a united opposition demanded the resignation of the UPA-II government in Parliament on Thursday

A ghost from the past has come back to haunt the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government. On Thursday, there was tumult in both Houses of Parliament and the Manmohan Singh government plunged into fresh crisis as the opposition joined hands to demand its resignation and said it had lost the moral right to govern following allegations on WikiLeaks that MPs were bought to win the 2008 trust vote.

Pass the buck: Lok Sabha TV footage of (left to centre) BJP MPs Mahavir
Singh Bhagora, Faggan Singh Kulaste and Ashok Argal, brandishing wads
of cash in the House on July 22, 2008.

The whistle blowing web site has got the opposition baying for the blood of the UPA Government also on the issue of a 'US tilt' in the cabinet reshuffle of 2006. The clamour for the government's resignation forced adjournments in both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. The UPA responded by saying it could not comment as the cables between the US government and its missions abroad were inaccessible for the government of India. US diplomatic cables leaked on WikiLeaks and published by The Hindu newspaper purportedly say that payoffs had been made to MPs to ensure majority for the Congress-led government in the confidence vote over the India-US nuclear deal.u00a0

In the midst of these descriptions are a few lines that could prove very costly for the UPA - II. They are: "Sharma's political aide Nachiketa Kapur mentioned to an Embassy staff member in an aside on July 16 that Ajit Singh's RLD had been paid Rupees 10 crore (about $2.5 million) for each of their four MPs to support the government. Kapur mentioned that money was not an issue at all, but the crucial thing was to ensure that those who took the money would vote for the government. Kapur showed the Embassy employee two chests containing cash and said that around Rupees 50-60 crore (about $25 million) was lying around the house for use as pay-offs."

'Sharma' being Congress leader Satish Sharma, a man described in the cables as a close friend of the Nehru-Gandhi family.Sharma denied having any aide named Kapur. "I do not have any political aide. There was no aide of me by the name of Kapur as reported by the paper," he said.

Nachiketa Kapur denied the allegations as 'malicious'. "I vehemently deny this malicious allegation," he said.
Ajit Singh also termed the charges baseless. "We had discussions with the TDP ( Telugu Desam Party), the TRS (Telangana Rashtra Samithi) and the Left and we decided to vote against the government and we did vote against the government," he said.

But the Opposition was unrelenting. As the Lok Sabha met in the evening after two adjournments, Leader of Opposition Sushma Swaraj raised the issue once again. "The Prime Minister is present in the House. Since morning the House has witnessed uproar. It would have been appropriate if the PM made a statement in the House on the issue. But he is maintaining silence," she said.

Who's Nachiketa Kapur?
An alumni of DPS Mathura Road, Nachiketa Kapur is known for his connections in Congress Party. In 2008 Appointments Committee of Cabinet (ACC) issued a memorandum saying he be not "considered for any post of sensitive nature", while rejecting his promotion-a functionary in the office of the then minister of state for women and child development Renuka Chowdhury-to the post of the minister's Officer on Special Duty (OSD). However, he blamed Chowdhury for his problems. Later he was rehabilitated as deputy director general (protocol & media relations), Commonwealth Games. Insiders say, he built up a profile of a multi-faceted personality - as a diplomatic observer, political activist, social worker and media personality.u00a0 He also handled Foreign Affairs in the Indian Youth Congress. Among the recent highlights of Kapur's career was his visit to the US as an international diplomatic observer during the 2008 presidential polls. He is a member of the Foreign Correspondents Club of India.

Money trial
Timeline of events surrounding the cash-for-vote scandal :
July 9, 2008: Left submits letter to president, withdraws support on Indo-US Nuclear deal.
July 21, 2008: Special session of parliament called for the trust vote.
July 22, 2008: Bharatiya Janata Party members carry bags filled with cash, approximately of Rs.30 million in value, inside house and allege it was meant to buy votes in the trust vote.
The house takes up the vote of confidence which is won by the UPA with 275 in favour and 256 against.
July 30, 2008: A committee formed by Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee and headed by V Kishore Chandra Deo (Congress) starts probe into the scandal.u00a0
October 30, 2008: The committee finalises the report.
December 15, 2008: The committee submits its report, suggesting that the money trail be probed by an investigating agency like the Central Bureau of Investigation or the Income Tax department.
March 17, 2011: US diplomatic cables leaked on WikiLeaks and published by The Hindu newspaper purportedly say that payoffs had been made to MPs to ensure majority for the UPA government in the confidence vote.